From what I read on this sub, the focus seems to be in developing countries or Eastern Europe. Just curious as to why US/Canada isn’t as popular as DN?
I get that it’s more expensive but there are ways around it. I think the beauty and stuff to do in such country tops a lot of places!
Just being curious and would like to know your point of views, not trying to take away anything from other countries :)
Short term rentals are set at luxury prices, car rentals are expensive, food is expensive. It’s just hard to move around affordably with ease. Public transport is fairly limited. These are countries for primary residents or wealthy tourists.
Transport is too expensive and that is the only reason. Buy a car or better a van and they are the best two countries in the world to visit. Good roads and a variety of climates.
DNs that are American that stay in America… don’t call themselves digital nomads. They just call themselves remote workers and move somewhere.
Or vandwellers. Or tiny house livers. Or homesteaders. Or whatever other term.
Like I’m in the US living extremely cheap in a camper I built that I park on some land I own in Maine. Super low cost of living and I mostly just work and grind my business.
But moving to Puerto Rico soon (also America) because it makes more sense for the business.
When I’m ready to travel more, I’d love to get out of America more. The culture of America is pretty ugly. And most places think mayonaise is the height of flavor / seasoning… lol
In general you pay more for everything in America…while getting less. I’ve paid 20 dollars to get sad overcooked and bland chicken on rice… that type of money could have gotten me a feast with flavor elsewhere. But in America the slogan is “fuck you, come again”.
Unrelated, but can I ask why you settled on Maine initially? I was looking for somewhere in New England to build a cabin on a good size parcel of land, but their income tax rates made me cringe even being from Connecticut.
Renting a car in the US as a foreigner is not at all complicated, where do you get that from? It’s one of the cheapest and best countries to do so.
I just spent 2 months in the US (California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Hawaii), had a rental car the whole time, drove around 4000 miles and it cost me about 6000 USD per month. While I’m not exactly living frugal the only way I see to do such a trip for less than 100 USD a day is camping on your own all the time. So yeah, most people just can’t or don’t want to afford that.
Mate have you been to north American cities? They suck (with some exemptions) and are expensive. The worst from both worlds.
Cold and expensive, among other reasons.
I have family in Montreal that I can stay with, though. Wouldn’t mind doing a yearly summer trip there.
and cars are essential in most of the US and make navigating parts of Canada easier.
Too expensive plus lack of culture due to too expensive
I’m an American with remote work, and it’s so incredibly expensive here. I’m not even in a big, major city. I end up staying with my parents inbetween my travels.
They definitely are, but since many DNa are actually from US and Canada, they know how to do it so they’ll just do it and won’t ask about it much.
Also because of the cost (US) and weather (Canada), most people stay there briefly.
Expensive, (mostly) not walkable, healthcare is turbo expensive.
You can have a very nice life on half a US budget in most of the world.
If you own a car, car camping around the state lands and national parks would totally be doable.
I did a 2 month road trip. Fuel is cheaper in US than muxh of the world. Groceries too. Restaurant food has gone way up with inflation.
Problem is you can’t really buy a car as a foreigner. And renting one for 3 months is going to be insane.
Van, campers rentals were expensive when I looked in 2019. Cheaper to stay in a hotel. I can only imagine now after the COVID hype how expensive they are.
Hostels aren’t really a thing in the US, so finding a place to sleep for under $50 a night is a challenge
Um, the cost, that’s why
Also the visa situation for anyone outside the 11 or so countries that have visa on arrival options is probably a nightmare.
Absolutely the cost for me. I grew up in London but live in the French Alps most of the year now. I had a hankering for living in a big city again for a bit and, just out of curiosity and knowing it was very, very silly, I looked up prices in New York. I always wanted to visit and it seems like the kind of city I’d really like. As soon as I saw the prices I confirmed to myself it was a complete non starter. I ended up in Mexico instead and it was fantastic - and cheap.
And that’s a big category, as it’s not just the cost of food and lodging, it’s also things like healthcare, insurance, transportation, and so on.
Most of US cities are not walkable, on top of being prohibitively expensive.
I liked Montreal as a more affordable city. It’s also one of those rare North American metropolises that is actually walkable to some degree, with decent public transportation.
I’m Aussie spending around 8/9 months a year in MTL as my home base and I think it’s an awesome place to live…. Just not in winter
Oh for sure, I spent 4 months there in summer, but I wouldn’t stay in winter. I came to terms with the fact that there was no perfect place on Earth a long time ago. Montréal came close for me, I made lots of friends very quickly.
Montreal is quite expensive to rent monthly, like ridiculously expensive… otherwise, love that city!
Most of US cities are not walkable, on top of being prohibitively expensive.
What does that have to do with anything? Renting a car in the US is dirt cheap
Terribly bad take lol it’s so expensive in the US, where the heck do you live
From where?
Define dirt cheap? Also what happens if you have an accident? Health insurance in the US is twice as expensive with my nomad plan.
Some nomads like me also don’t like car-centric cities. I like being able to walk everywhere (or at least use public transportation), and if there are cars around me, they shouldn’t have priorities over pedestrians. By that I mean that traffic lights turn green more often so you don’t have to wait for several minutes to cross the road, the speed limit is controlled, etc. It’s a personal preference, and many cities in the US don’t really fit those criteria.
I had a great time in the US as a tourist, but I don’t see myself living there.
Renting a car is not complicated in the US at all.
But it is expensive these days
what about renting a fully furnished RV as a non-resident?
You can’t do 99% of that cool stuff without a car and spending $500-1000/weekend just on those little side trips.
Yet the US claims to be the best country in the world lol